In the awning fabrication industry, decorative storefront awnings have conventionally been constructed as follows. Frames of welded aluminum or steel rails or extrusions are built in the factory, in sections that are short enough to safely transport on trucks or trailers to the job site. Once the frame sections are at the job site, they are bolted to a building. In the case where the overall length of the complete awning is longer than an individual section or longer than the truck or trailer used to transport the sections, a plurality of sections are constructed, transported to the job site, abutted to each other, and then bolted or welded to each other so that they become one continuous awning frame assembly of sections.
The cover for the awning frame, usually made of fabric such as polyester or acrylic, is typically also constructed in the shop. The fabric, which is supplied in narrow rolls, is cut into pieces to fit the shape of the awning frame, and the pieces are sewn together into one continuous piece so that the fabric covers the entire awning frame. After the awning frame is bolted to the building, the fabric cover is stretched over the frame and attached thereto, typically with grommets and lacing or by driving screws, staples or other fasteners into the frame.
In some cases, the fabric may be stretched over and attached to an individual awning frame section at the factory and then transported to the job site as a complete covered awning frame section. Then, the sections are typically bolted together as above described to form a continuous awning frame assembly of sections.
Similar methods are followed when a lighted awning is constructed. The fabric used for backlighted awnings is typically a translucent vinyl fabric. Pieces of the translucent vinyl are bonded together by a heat welder to form one piece of cover suitable for attachment to one section of awning frame. As with other awning fabrics, the translucent fabric is attached to the frame with grommets, lacing, or by driving screws into the frame. Again, after two or more sections of covered awning frame are bolted to a building, they are butted up against each other and fastened together with bolts or the like.
More recently, some manufacturers of fabric and lighted awnings have developed and are using an extruded all-aluminum frame which has a channel into which the fabric is attached with steel staples. This method of covering awnings eliminates the need to make patterns, and cut and sew fabric together, to make a one-piece cover for the entire awning or awning section. Instead, aluminum staple-in extrusions are positioned at intervals close enough that a single width of fabric can be stapled on all sides into the frame. Once the fabric or vinyl panels have been stapled into the entire awning frame or awning section, a PVC bead is driven into the stapling channel.
A disadvantage of all of the above-described prior art methods is that there is always a discontinuity at the joints between frame sections. This creates an aesthetically undesirable appearance and also permits the leakage of water between the awning sections.
With the newer staple-in aluminum frame systems, one solution to the section joint problem has been to leave the PVC bead out of the adjoining frame members, until the sections are attached to the building and bolted together. Then, a small strip of fabric is stapled into the adjoining frame members to bridge the seam. Next, two PVC beads are driven into the parallel now-adjacent stapling channels. This leaves the apperance of the overall assembly unbalanced because most regions of the awning only have one PVC bead every several feet, interspersed with regions of two PVC beads close to each other.
Other problems exist with this particular solution. First, two PVC beads are required for each joint between awning frame sections. Second, the installation of the bridging strip of fabric must take place at the job site. Both of these problems increase the cost and decrease the efficiency of the construction of awning assemblies.
Based on these difficulties, there has been a need in the art for a joint between pre-assembled awning frame sections that only requires a single bead and can be easily put together without installing additional fabric at the job site.